Combined hopper and feeder for presses.



No. 645,729. Patented Mar. 2o, |900. G. A. Lownv & w. M. HoLMEs. COMBINED HOPPER AND FEEDER FDR PRESSES.v

(Application filed Aug. 24, 1899.)

(No Model.) 3Sheets-Slheet l.

c \c\ O l i Z' 1 O Hlm i of@ c Q y mof s Geovyedqlozwy No. 645,729. Pamnfed Mar. 2n, |900. G. A. LowY & w. M. HoL-MEs. COMBINED HDPPER AND FEEDER FDR PRESSES.

med Aug. 24

3 Sheets Sheet 2.

(Application (No Model.)

MWh/5 No. 645,729. Patenten Mar. 2o, |900.

. G. A.' LowRY & w. M..HOLMES. coMBmEn HoPPER'AND FEEDER Fon PRESSES.r

(Application filed Aug. 24, 1,899.) (N0 Mode-l.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 v-jl if .f l"

2'. f c L 0c L t .f c

f' '/"H f' E JM a L Z, AC; C E v e l'eees. ,.ZZ'Uiar'. WW Geoff@ ffZazz/rg and f we u'cm'us Pin-:Rs no.. morauwo., WASHINGTON, b. c.

' -NrTED i STATES PATENT EEICE.

GEORGE A. LOWRYAND WATSON M. HOLMES, OEk BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AsSreNoES To THE ELANTEES OOMPEESS COMPANY, or wEST VIRGINIA.

, COMBINE-DHoPPEE-AND' FEED-ER Fo-R PRESSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 645,729, dated March 20, 1900.

Application nea August 24, 1899. sean ini-72aml on man.;

To all whom it 'may concern: Be it known that W'e-,GERGE A. LOWRY and WATSON M. IoninESfeitizens of the United States, residing at-Bostonjfin thelcounty of Suolk and Stateof Massachusetts, have invented a newand useful OoinbinedHopper and Feeder for ing is a specification.

This invention relates to any improvement in a combined hopperand feeder forpresses;

and its object is to feed the material to' the press more efficiently. p I f TheV invention 'cons'istsin substantially the construction set forth in the succeeding specifloation and more particularly pointed out in the claims. f* y Like letters designate corresponding parts 'in the several igruresof the drawings, in-

Figure l is a plan view of the combinedy feeder and hopper as applied to a press. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the combined feeder and hopper. Fig. 3 is a perspective view'in detail of a hinge used inc onnection 'with the device. Fig. i is a detail view,in side eleva-v tion and partly in section, of the. latch attachment. form of hinge. Fig.r 6 shows a diagrammatic vertical sectional view of a hopper 'with the feeding device contracted. Fig. '7 is .a similar view with the feedingfdevice expanded or withdrawn.

The irnproved'hopper and feeder forming4 the subjectrnatter of the present invention is adapted to be applied lto various forms of presses, but is particularly designed for use in connection with a form of press like that shown and described in the patent to George A. Lowry, No. 630,369, granted August 8, 1899.

In the drawings the letter A designates a part of the upper end of the press, to which the combined hopper and feeder may be secured.v y

B designatesthe cap-plate of the press, and b the slots formed in such cap-plate, through which the fibrous materialfmust pass and to which slots it is the object of the present invention to properly and efficiently convey such fibrous material.

The frame of the hopper is supported on a Presses, of which theffollovviv Fig. 5 is a detail view of anotherf metal ring C, which is securely fastened to theupper'part ofthe press, and this ring C mayxhave lugs c, providedvwith bearings for thepaXles or shafts of the cranks hereinafter referred to. Y These cranksl are designated by the letter E and at one end have shafts or axles'ex'tending transverselyl to the length ofl `thefcrelirlrarm, thev ends e of which find a bearing,'asabove stated, in the lug c. The

othe'rends of these crank-arms are'pivotally secured tothe sections of the hopper and preferably, although not necessarily, through vrthe medium of a cast-ing F, which has at its vlower'end a pin f', over which a hook on theI crank-arm Ernay be placed, and thereby form areadily detachable pivotal connection.

When this construction is used, the sectional part of the hopper is designated by the ref- .er'encelletterf and is secured to the inner side Iof the casting F, as shown in the drawings.

The castings are suitably pivoted at their upper ends, so as to be capable of swinging from such upper ends, and a convenient construction for this purpose is shown in the draw'- ings to consist of va cross-shaft at the-upper end of the casting, fitting and playing in a ver'- tically-elongated bearing formed in a hinged piece @which in turn is bolted to the under side of a ring G. The sections f of the yhopperrare sufficient .in' number so that vwhen placed edge to edgethey willoomplete the circle or polygon in cross-section and becon- I ical in a vertical direction. The ring Gis ca'- lpalole of vertical vmovement and vis `operated by mechanism which will be hereinafter described. It is guidedby the rods H, whichare Secured at their lowervends to the ring -G v and atr their upper ends to rthe ring H'. The lower ends of the sectional plates of the hopperf may be provided with fingers f2, which j in the contracted position of the sectional plates are located just above the outer ends' ofthe slots b in the cap-plate and serve to gently push the material into the .slots at such point. n 'Y The main shaft of the machine is shown-in Fig. 1 of the drawingsand designated by the letter I, and this shaft is belted'or otherwise geared to the short shaft J, which has a bear-r roo ing in the sleeve j, secured to the extension f of the main frame J'. At the inner end of this shaft J is a crank j, to the pin of which is secured the connecting-rod K, which at its other end is detachably connected to an arm of the bell-crank Ky b y the yoke K3, Fig. 4 of the drawings, containing the latch K2. This bell-crank K is keyed to a shaft L, which has bearings in the arms of c', projecting from the main frame of the machine. vAlso connected to the upper `arm of this bell-crank lever K is a rod M, which at its other end is pivoted to the lower arm In of another bellcrank lever mounted upon a shaft N', which latter has bearings in arms c2, projecting from the main frame at the opposite 4side of the machine from the arms c before mentioned.

Keyed to the shaft L, at opposite ends there? of, are the arms k and 7132, and keyed to the shaft N are the arms n and n2. These four arms lt" 71:2 n n2 form the other arm of the bell-crank levers before` mentioned-that is, the bell-crank lever K andthe bell-crank lever N. To the inner end of each of these arms 7a 7a2 n n2 is pivoted a vertical rod O, and the upper end of each offthese` vertical rods is connected to a hinge g,whicl1 is` secured to the under side of the ring G, `while the main shaft I, rotating through the Vmedium of the mechanism just described,gives a vertical reciprocating movement to the hoppcr, and the sectional sideplates of this hopper are at the same time caused to crowd in` ward at their lower ends, and thus concentrate the cotton over the slots, while at` the same time pushing it down toward such slots. This downward pushof the cotton is rendered yielding by reason of thefact that the brackets o r hinges h have an elongated vertical bearing for the pivots of the sectional plates, and thus permit such plates to be lifted slightly. The fingers f2 at the bottom of the sectional plates will, as above described, as-

^ sist in pushing the fibrous materialinto the V time is gently fed to such slots by the downward action ofthe hopper.

Thisfeeding and concentrating action of the hopper is of course desirable in various forms of presses; but it is particularly advantageous in a press like that described in the patent particularly specified in the foregoing part of this specification, in which the material is compressed in layers or increments as it passes underneath the lip on the under side of the cap-plate, for in such a press the air which is squeezed out of the layer of material causes something of an upward current and tends to partially lift fibrous material, and especially such light material as cotton, away from the cap-plate; but this form of feeder overcomes such lifting action and gently forces the material down int-o position to be caught and drawn through the slots in the cap-plate and compressed.

lt is obvious that persons skilled in the art may make many changes and variations in the construction and arrangement above described withoutdeparting from the principle of the invention, and we therefore do not wish to be understoodas limiting ourselves to the exact construction shown and described or the details thereof.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-.

l. In a machineY for compressing fibrous material, the combination with a slotted capplate and a holder for the compressed material, and means for relatively rotating such cap-plate and'holder, of a'hopper, and mechl anism for moving such hopper toward and `away from the slotted cap-plate,\\'he1eby such hopper acts as a feeder substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

\ 2. In a machine for `compressing fibrous material, the combination with a slotted cap- `plate, a holderfor the compressed material,

and means for relatively rotating such capf plate andholder, of a hopper adapted to guide the material tothe slotted cap-plate, and capable itself of being moved,`and mechanism for givinga reciprocating movement to the hopper towardand away from the cap-plate;

substantially as and for the purpose setforth. 3. `In va machine for compressing fibrous materiahthe oombinationwith a slotted cap- 4 tions, and mechanism for moving the hopper, bodily toward and away from the cap-plate,

and for moving the sections inwardly so as to concentrate the material while it is being fed downward to the slotted cap-plate; substan` tially as and for the purpose set forth.

5; In a machine for compressing fibrous material, the combination with a slotted capplate, of a hopper composed of pivoted sections and capable of being as a Whole moved bodily toward and away from the slotted capplate, and mechanism for giving this movement to the hopper, and for contracting the hopper on its downward movement and expanding it upon its upward movement, sub- 'stantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a machine for compressing fibrous material, the combination with a slotted cap-l plate, of a hopper capable of being moved toward and away from the cap-plate, and provided with devices for pushing the material to the slots, including projections, to act upon the material near the outer end of such slots, and mechanism for reciprocating the hopper; substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. ln a machine for compressing fibrous material, the combination with a slotted cap- IOO IIO

- Y tions lto reciprocate them vinwardly and out- .i set forth..

plate, of a hopperhaving pivoted sectionsand adapted to b e moved toward and away from the cap-plate, and a loose vconnection for the pivot of such sections, whereby. they may yield during the feeding operation, and mechanism for reciprocating such hopper with its sections; substantially as and for the purpose 8. In a machine for compressing fibrous material, the combination with a slotted capplate, of a hopper` comprising an upper ring and a series of vdownwardly-depending sections pivoted to suoli ring, and mechanism` connected to the ring-to reciprocate the hopper bodily, and tothe lowerends of the secwardly; substantially as and for the purpose set forth.v I 7 Y 9. In a' machine for compressing fibrous material, the combination with a slotted capplate, of a hopper' composed ot' a ring and a series of downwardly-*depending sections piv- .voted to such ring, and mechanism for reciprocating the ring in a vertical direction, and

the sections inwardly and outwardly, and guides for thefhopper supportedV by the main frame of the machine; substantially as and for thepnrpose set forth.

l0. In a machine forcolnpressing fibrous material, the combination with a slotted capplate, of a hopper composed of an upper ring and a series of depending sections pivoted tov such upper ring, and mechanism for reciprocating the ring vertically, and the sections inwardly andv outwardly, including cranks and connecting-rods, and latch connections whereby the connecting-rods may be readily detached; substantially as and*v for the pur pose set forth.

l1. In a machine for compressing fibrous material, the combination with a slotted capplate and the main frame of the machine, o f a guiding-frame superposed above the main.

so. l

frame, anda hopper arranged to move on such guiding-frame, and provided with pivoted sides, and mechanism for reciprocating l, the 'hopper and moving its sides; substantially asand for the purpose set forth. 'In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands, this 21st day of August-,1899, in 5c the presence of the subscribing witnesses. GEORGE A. LOWRY.

. WATSON lvl. HOLMES.' Witnesscs WM. M. RHEEM,

DANL. W. HOWLAND. 

